In January, Nintendo did something unusual: it accidentally released a video game. A small number of copies of DS football RPG Inazuma Eleven from Level-5 deftly dodged the tackles of Nintendo's distribution system and scored a few goals with customers before Nintendo blew the half-time whistle and the error was corrected. Now the game of two halves is properly coming to the UK, with a 26th August release date confirmed by Nintendo.

The accompanying anime series just started on Disney XD, so Nintendo will be hoping for a winning line-up of cartoons, football and the talent behind Professor Layton to bring the game to the top of the DS charts.

26th July 2011 – Get your Nintendo DS stylus ready and be prepared as football is about to enter a whole new dimension both on and off the pitch! Flying fireballs, power spins, sky kicks, teleporting strikers and over 1,000 different characters are all available in the palm of your hand – to help you build your ultimate football team. Inazuma Eleven, the “football meets action role-play” game, has already gained acclaim from players in Europe and is now making its way to UK and Ireland on 26th August 2011.

Inazuma Eleven has already been turned into a popular manga series that has broadcast on TV in Asia, parts of Europe and Monday 25th July 2011 saw the series premiere in the UK on Disney XD at 8.30am. The game coming exclusively to the Nintendo DS™ family of consoles follows the journey of teenage goalkeeper Mark Evans as he tries to recruit the best players possible for his school football team so that they can try to win the prestigious Football Frontier tournament. He will meet characters such as Axel Blaze, an extremely talented striker with a secret, and pit his skills against players like Jude Sharp, a playmaker for the rival Royal Academy team.

Captivating anime sequences enrich the storyline in this adventure and players are able to explore the town in the game to hunt for potential team mates. There are over 1000 in-game characters which you can scout, each one with their own statistics, unique skills and special abilities. In addition if you connect to Nintendo Wi-Fi connection there are over 50 additional characters that can be recruited to your team. It is up to you to craft a team from your players with the abilities that support your strategic approach to the game.

Once the football matches begin – the action kicks in. There are two types of matches to play in the game: either full eleven player teams battling on a standard sized pitch, or 4-on-4 challenges which pit the player against specific tasks such as scoring or gaining possession of the ball. During the match your Nintendo DS stylus will come into its own when you control your hand-picked team. You will challenge your reaction and dexterity as you determine the strategy that your team takes to press opponents, cut passes, perform slippery sliding tackles and of course score goals.

Your players can even utilise multiple fantasy moves to turn the tide of a game! From special dribbles and water waves, to flying ice kicks and shooting a football fireball! They can however only possess one skill during the match, so choose wisely to drive your team to victory!

If you want another challenge, Inazuma Eleven features a local wireless multiplayer mode where up to four users can challenge each other with their hand-picked teams. Users can also trade players using local wireless communications.

If you love RPG or sports action with a strong blend of strategy and character collection to tax your mind, this is one game you must tackle. Inazuma Eleven launches across the UK and Ireland on 26th August 2011 exclusively for the Nintendo DS family of handheld consoles.

I was one of the lucky however many to get this earlier in the year. It's still sealed and untouched. Isn't fetching much on eBay any more but I would love to know if there are indeed any differences to the packaging on the version being released in August,

@JayArr - why not just import it? Is it more expensive or something? I often wonder why people are so averse to importing - I rarely buy a game at a store these days as it's far easier to get the games I want online, and it's a fair bit cheaper to boot.

@8. The original delay was because no broadcaster showed the cartoon in the UK, and so there was no awareness of the brand. As Disney XD have picked up the show for the UK we now finally get a release date. Call me pessimistic but I suspect that it still won't sell.

I was under the impression that some DS games are actually region locked. I imported a copy of Popcap's Bejewelled Twist directly from the US site of Amazon.com (just before they started to block sales of Nintendo DS games to the UK), and it will work on my DSLite, but not on my DSiXL.Or does that mean that the game is region free, whilst the XL is region locked and the DSLite is not? goes off to a corner to think about it

^ this. If you play any DS game on an original phat DS or DS lite then it will work, there's no restrictions at all with it. As for importing, I've found it to be generally cheaper to buy my DS games from the US over the years, even with the extra shipping costs.

@Arthedain: it sounds like you were the victim of a counterfeiter. it happens, especially while buying games over the internet (buying from Hong Kong is almost certain to nab you a fake game, just so you know)

@Mowzle: you're thinking of DSi-enhanced DS games. The DSi enhancements are indeed region-locked, not the DS game itself... the game will play fine on any region phat or lite (because the DS is not region-locked) but not a DSi or 3DS (both of which would see that the enhancements are for a different region and stop the game from booting altogether — there is no way to bypass the enhancements and just play the DS version).

A strange story: Apparently a few copy's where released by accident in Europe in Januari. However, on the Dutch Nintendo site you could find the same date. So it must have been the original date. I saw a copy once at a specialized game-shop. I had almost bought it, but I decided not to.

Now I am pretty far into Inazuma eleven (the anime) thanks to the internet. I really love the series, and yes, very recently Disney XD started to air the show and everyday they mention the game during the commercials. If the game gets properly released this time, I might pick it up someday.

If anyone is interested: So far there are 4 games (3 for the DS and 1 for Wii). And there are already over 100 episodes (I am just at episode 43). There is already a follow-up series called Inazuma eleven Go. It's about a new Inazuma eleven team!

While I don't like football, I for some reason love Inazuma eleven!

"Call me pessimistic but I suspect that it still won't sell"

If it will be available everywhere, then I think it will sell a lot! Because I think this series will become a succes. Think about it: Western people love football. Western people also love many anime's (Pokemon, Naruto, Beyblade, etc). I think it will be a big succes!

@JayArr: Cheers for that. I'm actually moving to the US soon, so it's good to know what sort of prices I'm looking at!

@Fuzzy: There's always ozgameshop or 365games (both owned by the same company) or eBay. I tend to find better prices on eBay and use that, although you need to be careful who you buy from to ensure you get legitimate games.

@Arthedain You were definitely the victim of a counterfeiter, I'm afraid...I'm in the UK and I bought my US copy of Metroid Prime Hunters at launch from the Nintendo Store in New York (I was over there at the time) and it works perfectly fine on both my UK DSi and UK 3DS.

Sometimes (but not always), people selling counterfeits will say 'only compatible with DS and DS Lite, not compatible with DSi or 3DS' which is a dead giveaway.